Sunday, February 11
Columbus, Ohio
12:00 PM
Indiana University
at
#6 Ohio State
No. 22 Indiana to Face No. 6 Ohio State in Columbus
2/10/2024 8:00:00 AM | Wrestling
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. –––– No. 22 Indiana Wrestling will hit the road to face No. 6 Ohio State on Sunday, Feb. 11 in Columbus at the Covelli Center.
OHIO STATE PREVIEW:
-No. 22 Indiana visits No. 6 Ohio State on Sunday in Columbus, Ohio. in the Covelli Center.
-The Buckeyes, a perennial top-ten team every season, boast nine ranked wrestlers in their probable lineup.
-Of the nine ranked wrestlers, five are in the top-15 at their weight class: No. 11 Nic Bouzakis (133), No. 3 Jesse Mendez (141), No. 11 Dylan D'Emilio (149), No. 11 Rocco Welsh (174) and No. 7 Nick Feldman (285).
-Ohio State enters the dual with a 13-2 record, with their only losses coming to No. 18 Pittsburgh and No. 1 Penn State.
-The Buckeyes own wins over No. 3 Virginia Tech, No. 21 Northern Iowa, No. 2 NC State, No. 8 Cornell and No. 9 Michigan, among others.
-Ohio State leads the all-time series against Indiana 37-56-2 with Indiana's last win coming in 2006.
MSU REWIND:
-Last Sunday's dual against Michigan State proved to be a historic one.
-The Spartans led the Hoosiers 18-0 after the first four bouts due to a pin, a forfeit and two wins by decision.
-Despite the major deficit, Indiana clawed back, bit-by-bit to make the match close again and ended up winning all six remaining bouts, to take the 23-18 win.
-In the second-to-last bout at 141 lbs., No. 24 Dan Fongaro defeated No. 30 Jordan Hamdan thanks to a last second takedown that was initially ruled too late, but upon review it counted. With the win there, Indiana trailed 18-17.
-Graham Rooks (149) closed out the dual by pinning Clayton Jones to secure the win.
-It was Indiana's first win over Michigan State since 2015.
RANKINGS REVIVAL:
-Across both major ranking services, Indiana had a combined seven wrestlers ranked in this week's set of polls.
-The mark of seven ties the most ranked wrestlers at one time for the Hoosiers this season.
-Seven ranked wrestlers is the highest amount of individuals ranked at one time for the IU Wrestling program during Angel Escobedo's coaching tenure.
-The ranked wrestlers include No. 23 Dan Fongaro (141), No. 14 Graham Rooks (149), No. 18 Brayton Lee (157), No. 22 Tyler Lillard (165), No. 17 DJ Washington (174), No. 32 Gabe Sollars (197) and No. 33 Nick Willham (285).
-In the most recent NWCA poll, Indiana as a team is slotted at No. 22. This is the second highest mark Indiana has hit this season, with the highest being No. 21
CLASS OF 2018:
-Four of the ten Hoosiers in the routine starting lineup are sixth-year seniors.
-These seniors include Michael Spangler (125), Dan Fongaro (141), Graham Rooks (149) and Brayton Lee (157).
-Of the four, Rooks is the only one who has spent all six seasons in Bloomington. Spangler transferred from Pratt Junior College and Lock Haven.
-Fongaro and Lee each spent five seasons at their previous institutions, Columbia and Minnesota, respectively.
NEW FACES:
-Indiana has nine new wrestlers on the roster for this season.
-Of the newbies, five of them are freshmen while the other four are transfers.
-All five freshmen are from the state of Indiana. They include Bryce Lowery (Indianapolis), Joey Buttler (Greenwood), Cheaney Schoeff (Avon), Anthony Bahl (Crown Point) and Aidan Torres (Chesterton).
-Lowery, Buttler and Torres all won an IHSAA individual State Championship during their senior season. Bahl won a Team State Title with the Crown Point Bulldogs, the second in a row for the team, and their third in four years.
-Lowery won IndyStar's Most Outsanding Wrestler award for the best senior wrestler in the state for the 2022-2023 school year.
-Indiana's transfer class includes Dan Fongaro, Brayton Lee, Roman Rogotzke and Aaron Johnson.
-Lee, a known commodity around NCAA Wrestling, returns to his home state after spending five years at Minnesota.
-The two-time All-American (2020, 2021) is seeking to recapture his momentum after entering last season as the No. 2 ranked wrestler at 157 lbs. in the country.
-Lee's 2022-23 season was cut short due to injury at The Big Ten Championships.
-Fongaro comes to Indiana after five years at Columbia where he competed at 141 and 149 lbs. He will wrestle at 141 lbs. for the Hoosiers.
-Fongaro owns fifth and sixth place finishes at the EIWA Championships in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
-Rogotzke, a transfer at 184 lbs., from South Dakota State, enters his redshirt sophomore season with plenty of momentum.
-Last year, Rogotzke racked up 17 wins and took first place at two open tournaments.
-Johnson joined the Hoosiers at the semester break.
-The Kennesaw, Ga. native and heavyweight wrestled at University of the Cumberlands (NAIA) in Williamsburg, Ky. from 2017-2022.
-Johnson was a four-time NAIA qualifier and three-time All-American at Cumberlands.
INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS:
-The Indiana Wrestling team had a number of wrestlers compete in offseason competition to get better and compete on the world stage.
-Senior Jacob Moran competed for Team Puerto Rico at 57 kg in Freestyle and took third place at the Central American and Caribbean Games while also competing at the 2023 U23 World Championships in Albania.
-Derek Gilcher took fifth place at the 2023 U.S. Open at the Senior Level at 74 kg.
-Gabe Sollars earned sixth place at the 2023 U.S. Open in the U20 division in Freestyle at 92 kg. He also had a sixth place finish at the U20 World Team Trials in the same weight class and division.
-DJ Washington finished in second at 86 kg in the U23 World Team Trials in Freestyle.
-Nick Willham had a fourth place finish at 92 kg in the U23 World Team Trials in Freestyle.
-Tyler Lillard earned 7th place at 74 kg in the U20 World Team Trials in Freestyle.
-Cole Rhemrev took 7th place at 67 kg in Greco-Roman at the U20 World Team Trials. Magnus Kuokkanen got 7th in the same division, but at 77 kg.
GEOGRAPHICAL DISPERSION:
-Indiana's roster features wrestlers everywhere across the country.
-Fifteen wrestlers on the team are home grown, in-state Hoosiers, including all of the freshmen.
-Of the 31 wrestlers on the team, there are 14 different states represented.
-The states represented on Indiana's roster include Indiana, New Mexico, Illinois, New Jersey, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Wisconsin, Ohio, California, Minnesota, Kansas, Kentucky and Georgia.
OHIO STATE PREVIEW:
-No. 22 Indiana visits No. 6 Ohio State on Sunday in Columbus, Ohio. in the Covelli Center.
-The Buckeyes, a perennial top-ten team every season, boast nine ranked wrestlers in their probable lineup.
-Of the nine ranked wrestlers, five are in the top-15 at their weight class: No. 11 Nic Bouzakis (133), No. 3 Jesse Mendez (141), No. 11 Dylan D'Emilio (149), No. 11 Rocco Welsh (174) and No. 7 Nick Feldman (285).
-Ohio State enters the dual with a 13-2 record, with their only losses coming to No. 18 Pittsburgh and No. 1 Penn State.
-The Buckeyes own wins over No. 3 Virginia Tech, No. 21 Northern Iowa, No. 2 NC State, No. 8 Cornell and No. 9 Michigan, among others.
-Ohio State leads the all-time series against Indiana 37-56-2 with Indiana's last win coming in 2006.
MSU REWIND:
-Last Sunday's dual against Michigan State proved to be a historic one.
-The Spartans led the Hoosiers 18-0 after the first four bouts due to a pin, a forfeit and two wins by decision.
-Despite the major deficit, Indiana clawed back, bit-by-bit to make the match close again and ended up winning all six remaining bouts, to take the 23-18 win.
-In the second-to-last bout at 141 lbs., No. 24 Dan Fongaro defeated No. 30 Jordan Hamdan thanks to a last second takedown that was initially ruled too late, but upon review it counted. With the win there, Indiana trailed 18-17.
-Graham Rooks (149) closed out the dual by pinning Clayton Jones to secure the win.
-It was Indiana's first win over Michigan State since 2015.
RANKINGS REVIVAL:
-Across both major ranking services, Indiana had a combined seven wrestlers ranked in this week's set of polls.
-The mark of seven ties the most ranked wrestlers at one time for the Hoosiers this season.
-Seven ranked wrestlers is the highest amount of individuals ranked at one time for the IU Wrestling program during Angel Escobedo's coaching tenure.
-The ranked wrestlers include No. 23 Dan Fongaro (141), No. 14 Graham Rooks (149), No. 18 Brayton Lee (157), No. 22 Tyler Lillard (165), No. 17 DJ Washington (174), No. 32 Gabe Sollars (197) and No. 33 Nick Willham (285).
-In the most recent NWCA poll, Indiana as a team is slotted at No. 22. This is the second highest mark Indiana has hit this season, with the highest being No. 21
CLASS OF 2018:
-Four of the ten Hoosiers in the routine starting lineup are sixth-year seniors.
-These seniors include Michael Spangler (125), Dan Fongaro (141), Graham Rooks (149) and Brayton Lee (157).
-Of the four, Rooks is the only one who has spent all six seasons in Bloomington. Spangler transferred from Pratt Junior College and Lock Haven.
-Fongaro and Lee each spent five seasons at their previous institutions, Columbia and Minnesota, respectively.
NEW FACES:
-Indiana has nine new wrestlers on the roster for this season.
-Of the newbies, five of them are freshmen while the other four are transfers.
-All five freshmen are from the state of Indiana. They include Bryce Lowery (Indianapolis), Joey Buttler (Greenwood), Cheaney Schoeff (Avon), Anthony Bahl (Crown Point) and Aidan Torres (Chesterton).
-Lowery, Buttler and Torres all won an IHSAA individual State Championship during their senior season. Bahl won a Team State Title with the Crown Point Bulldogs, the second in a row for the team, and their third in four years.
-Lowery won IndyStar's Most Outsanding Wrestler award for the best senior wrestler in the state for the 2022-2023 school year.
-Indiana's transfer class includes Dan Fongaro, Brayton Lee, Roman Rogotzke and Aaron Johnson.
-Lee, a known commodity around NCAA Wrestling, returns to his home state after spending five years at Minnesota.
-The two-time All-American (2020, 2021) is seeking to recapture his momentum after entering last season as the No. 2 ranked wrestler at 157 lbs. in the country.
-Lee's 2022-23 season was cut short due to injury at The Big Ten Championships.
-Fongaro comes to Indiana after five years at Columbia where he competed at 141 and 149 lbs. He will wrestle at 141 lbs. for the Hoosiers.
-Fongaro owns fifth and sixth place finishes at the EIWA Championships in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
-Rogotzke, a transfer at 184 lbs., from South Dakota State, enters his redshirt sophomore season with plenty of momentum.
-Last year, Rogotzke racked up 17 wins and took first place at two open tournaments.
-Johnson joined the Hoosiers at the semester break.
-The Kennesaw, Ga. native and heavyweight wrestled at University of the Cumberlands (NAIA) in Williamsburg, Ky. from 2017-2022.
-Johnson was a four-time NAIA qualifier and three-time All-American at Cumberlands.
INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS:
-The Indiana Wrestling team had a number of wrestlers compete in offseason competition to get better and compete on the world stage.
-Senior Jacob Moran competed for Team Puerto Rico at 57 kg in Freestyle and took third place at the Central American and Caribbean Games while also competing at the 2023 U23 World Championships in Albania.
-Derek Gilcher took fifth place at the 2023 U.S. Open at the Senior Level at 74 kg.
-Gabe Sollars earned sixth place at the 2023 U.S. Open in the U20 division in Freestyle at 92 kg. He also had a sixth place finish at the U20 World Team Trials in the same weight class and division.
-DJ Washington finished in second at 86 kg in the U23 World Team Trials in Freestyle.
-Nick Willham had a fourth place finish at 92 kg in the U23 World Team Trials in Freestyle.
-Tyler Lillard earned 7th place at 74 kg in the U20 World Team Trials in Freestyle.
-Cole Rhemrev took 7th place at 67 kg in Greco-Roman at the U20 World Team Trials. Magnus Kuokkanen got 7th in the same division, but at 77 kg.
GEOGRAPHICAL DISPERSION:
-Indiana's roster features wrestlers everywhere across the country.
-Fifteen wrestlers on the team are home grown, in-state Hoosiers, including all of the freshmen.
-Of the 31 wrestlers on the team, there are 14 different states represented.
-The states represented on Indiana's roster include Indiana, New Mexico, Illinois, New Jersey, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Wisconsin, Ohio, California, Minnesota, Kansas, Kentucky and Georgia.
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